Mom’s Cornbread Dressing with a Twist

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! With that in mind, I’m sharing my Thanksgiving Menu and my Mom’s Cornbread Dressing. I’ve also highlighted other recipes in orange so you can click the link to get the recipe.

Because my children always request their favorite dish for Thanksgiving, my menu pretty much stays the same each year – lots of meat and heavy on the starches! Don’t judge – it’s Thanksgiving! I usually add a squash or broccoli casserole but Mom’s Cornbread Dressing and the dumplings get all the attention!

In the south, it’s dressing, not stuffing! No sausage for me, thank you. No chestnuts, no raisins, just mom’s cornbread stuffing (with a twist).

I grew up not helping my mom make the dressing. Why would I ruin such a beautiful thing? Then the inevitable happened. I grew all the way up!

One year we couldn’t make it home to Georgia for Thanksgiving or Christmas. My husband and I were attending Bible College in OK about, oh, 25 years ago and with his job, us both in school and the kids in school as well, it was just out of the question.

After several episodes of hysteria, I decided to cowboy up (Oklahoma – cowboy – get it?) and make my own Thanksgiving and Christmas meals – all by my twenty-something-year-old-self. And we decided to invite about 30 of our closest friends (some from other countries) over for dinner. Am I a complete idiot??? Probably! But I am adventurous! So, first things first: I called mama.

A Phone Conversation with Mama

Me: “Well, mama, you know we can’t come home for Thanksgiving this year and if you are still speaking to me, I gotta know two things. I need to know how to make turkey and dressing and I need your recipe for chicken and dumplings (from scratch, mind you).” (I actually was a pretty decent cook by then, as long as I did not have to make the “D” words – dumplings and dressing.)

Mom: “Well, honey, I don’t have a recipe. I mean, I just add this and that and . . .

Me: “What?????? No recipe? What do you mean, you don’t have a recipe?”

Mom: “You make two pans of cornbread, but you put extra eggs in it to make it richer. I call it egg bread.

Then you crumble it up. Add a diced onion and some diced celery – oh, about a cup full. Then you mix it all up and salt and pepper it. We don’t add sage. We don’t like sage. (Well, I do a little bit but don’t tell mama). Then you pour in the chicken stock until it’s kind of thin. Pour it into a greased 13″x 9″ pan and bake it at 350 for about 45 minutes or until it’s nice and crispy on top.”

We like crispy on top. We don’t like soggy and we don’t like hard boiled eggs chopped up in our dressing.

Well, I knew I probably shouldn’t mess with a good thing, but I just had to. I axed the chopped celery and added a can of cream of chicken soup and a can of cream of celery soup and I think it’s divine.

In my book, mama’s dressing is still the best dressing in the south. But then, she’s still the best cook in the south! And I pray that I inherited a tiny bit of her good cooking abilities.

Mom’s Cornbread Dressing

2 round cake pans of cooked cornbread (follow the directions on the back of the self-rising white cornmeal mix but use 3 eggs instead of one. We are making egg bread! Follow those directions twice!) We are making it two times! This is for a crowd!

Chicken stock

1 can Cream of Celery Soup

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

One large onion, diced

Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

Bake the cornbread a day ahead.

In a large bowl, crumble the cornbread.

Add diced onion, cream of celery and cream of chicken.

Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste. We like lots of pepper.

Stir in the chicken stock until soupy. This is where you just have to "eyeball it."

Pour into a greased 13" x 9" baking pan. Cook at 350 until the top is crispy, about 40-45 minutes.

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Hi! I'm Alli - wife of one, mom of 5 and nana of 5. I'm a southern cook who loves to share recipes, entertain family and friends and travel to the Caribbean at least once a year. Becoming a beach bum is high on my to-do list!

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Thanks for stopping by An Alli Event! My parties have to be fun, frugal and fabulous! My décor is always simple, yet stunning. My food is scrumptious and satisfying. Stick around and I’ll show you how to take my ideas and make them your own.